Am I The Only One Who Feels Kinda Bad For Ronda Rousey?

Wally Bryton7 years ago

This may finally be that fateful day where I get murdered in my sleep for one of my articles. It’s weird to say out loud, and it’s hard to admit, but I’m just gonna say it: I kinda feel bad for Ronda Rousey. Put down the pitchforks and torches for a second and let me explain.

Yes, R*nda R*usey, the badass MMA legend turned permanent laughingstock virtually overnight. I kinda wish I could send her a Hallmark card and a box of cookies for her troubles, because her fall from grace was staggering. A painfully humiliating blow to her ego, oozing with secondhand embarrassment. Yikes. Just yikes.

It’s been a minute since we’ve thought about her, since she fell off the face of the earth and all. But I realized my feelings of pity toward Ronda while seeing Conor McGregor everywhere lately due to his upcoming dance with Floyd. All this talk of Ireland’s favorite muscular leprechaun had me remembering when Rowdy Ronda Rousey was once the terrifying queen of knockouts for a brief, fleeting moment.

Step inside this pop culture time machine to 2014 and most of 2015, when people worshipped that lady. She was like a Greek goddess, but with more protein drinks. She knocked people out in the first round like a murderous maniac and was frequently compared to early Mike Tyson. She had endorsement deals, video games, a popular memoir, and basically everything that came with an athlete becoming a household name. She even had a large role in the Entourage movie, a film that you (understandably) forgot existed until a second ago.

And before you throw tomatoes at me, you know damn well you admired her before the crap hit the fan. Don’t act like you’ve been a hater since day 1.

We could sit here all day and debate exactly what went wrong. Maybe she was fighting exceptionally unskilled women, which made her look like a beast, and then some real fighters came into the league and put things into perspective. Maybe she got caught up in being a celebrity and it distracted her too much. When you’re appearing on The Tonight Show and punching people in Fast & Furious films, there’s less time for training.

In late 2015 when she lost to Holly Holm (aka buff Amy Schumer), we were all shocked. But her fall from grace REALLY happened during her devastating loss to Amanda Nunes in late 2016 during what was supposed to be her epic comeback. Now there’s no room for any more fights, or even a role in the inevitable Fast & Furious 14 that’ll probably come out next week.

I’m not saying she deserved better; she made her bed and now she’s gotta sleep in it. But that’s just rough to watch. The world has fully moved on from her ever since she went from winning machine to UFC rag doll, and that can’t be an easy pill to swallow for her.

If you don’t mind, let’s stand up, bow our heads, and have a moment of silence for Ronda Rousey..

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